Tesla Model 3 - Now I get the hype.

All this EV talk has me glued to the TV watching the Barrett-Jackon auction and all the beautiful gas burning internal combustion muscle cars that I wish I could own.

Kind of like diving into a plate of bacon after going vegetarian all weekend.
 
Elon Musk Says Tesla Truck Will Best F-150. We’re Still Laughing.
By Ian Wright - June 5, 2019
0 COMMENTS
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Musk also wants the Tesla truck to cost under $50k and have 300,000 lbs. of towing capacity. We wish him good luck with that.
We caught this piece of “news” from Elektric, which reports on a recent podcast featuring Tesla titan Elon Musk where he talked about how amazing the electric Tesla pickup truck is going to be, and how he’s got the F-150 in his sights. After we rolled our eyes, we went ahead and listened to the source interview with Musk. After all, everybody needs a little comedy in their life.
 
I noticed last Friday that the local Walmart has 4 recharging ''pumps''. Just how long this remains free will be the question.

Actually saw a Tesla in town the other day. He was going from gas station to gas station. Looking for a charging station.??
 
Zeldman said:
Actually saw a Tesla in town the other day. He was going from gas station to gas station. Looking for a charging station.??
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I really hesitate to say this, but . . .
I don't believe you.
 
Zeldman said:
I noticed last Friday that the local Walmart has 4 recharging ''pumps''. Just how long this remains free will be the question.

Actually saw a Tesla in town the other day. He was going from gas station to gas station. Looking for a charging station.??
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Looking for one that actually had the windshield wash stations filled with fluid!

... or any number of perfectly valid reasons. Anyone who's looking for chargers at gas stations is looking in the wrong place. Very few have them.
 
JOhnH said:
I really hesitate to say this, but . . .
I don't believe you.
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I take that back @Zeldman . I just realized you put "??" meaning it was speculation. Besides, saying I didn't believe you was rude and uncalled for. I apologize for that.

At first I took it to mean that you somehow knew (or thought you knew) that he was looking for a charging station at gas stations. If he was going from station to station (and I do question how you know this unless you were following him), he was probably looking for something like an air pump.
 
JOhnH said:
I take that back @Zeldman . I just realized you put "??" meaning it was speculation. Besides, saying I didn't believe you was rude and uncalled for. I apologize for that.

At first I took it to mean that you somehow knew (or thought you knew) that he was looking for a charging station at gas stations. If he was going from station to station (and I do question how you know this unless you were following him), he was probably looking for something like an air pump.
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Apology accepted but not really necessary, this is the internet so I really don't take too many things personal. I wasn't really following, I just noticed it was a Tesla as he came out of one station and into the next one right next door, and then the next station in line. This part of old route 66 has gas stations lined up side by side, so as I was stopped at the red light I could watch what was happening.

Gallup is a town of about 25,000 folks and a few old grumps. The city council and some business men do not like changes, so seeing a new charging station for electric cars in town surprises me.
 
Looks like a lot of folks are getting the “hype”...

Tesla has released its numbers for the second quarter of 2019. Between April to June, Tesla managed to hit new records, producing a total of 87,048 vehicles, while delivering approximately 95,200 in both the United States and other territories.

In an announcement on its Investor Relations website, Tesla stated that it had produced a total of 14,517 Model S and Model X during Q2 2019, while Model 3 production was at 72,531 units. A total of 17,650 Model S and X and 77,550 Model 3 were delivered in the second quarter as well.
 
Stock still not doing extremely well.

Market Cap 40.012B
Beta (3Y Monthly) 0.03
PE Ratio (TTM) N/A
EPS (TTM) -5.69
Earnings Date Jul 30, 2019 - Aug 5, 2019
Forward Dividend & Yield N/A (N/A)
Ex-Dividend Date N/A
1y Target Est 276.43
 
1RTK1 said:
Stock still not doing extremely well.

Market Cap 40.012B
Beta (3Y Monthly) 0.03
PE Ratio (TTM) N/A
EPS (TTM) -5.69
Earnings Date Jul 30, 2019 - Aug 5, 2019
Forward Dividend & Yield N/A (N/A)
Ex-Dividend Date N/A
1y Target Est 276.43
Click to expand...

I just bought another share. Trying to set aside enough to buy one a month. Up to 8 now. But admittedly a gamble. In the immortal words of you-know-who, “We’ll see what happens”!
 
This is the worry I have with buying a Tesla. Everything I’ve read reflects what these guys are going through. Poor customer service.

They have poor customer service because of their lack of support centers and spare parts. Makes me wonder why they’re still selling these at ridiculously high prices when you don’t have the overhead that major car manufacturers have. I can get my Volt fixed in a day or a week for body work...3 months?! That’s crazy. It’s a beautiful car but with no support, I’ll pass.

 
Velocity173 said:
This is the worry I have with buying a Tesla. Everything I’ve read reflects what these guys are going through. Poor customer service.

They have poor customer service because of their lack of support centers and spare parts. Makes me wonder why they’re still selling these at ridiculously high prices when you don’t have the overhead that major car manufacturers have. I can get my Volt fixed in a day or a week for body work...3 months?! That’s crazy. It’s a beautiful car but with no support, I’ll pass.
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Just to clarify - this is about body work, not warranty service. For warranty service, Tesla has generally been exemplary - with some vocal exceptions.

The body shop thing however is very real, and has been a fight between the body shops and Tesla for a while now. Body shops complain that they don't get parts from Tesla. Tesla complains that body shops don't investigate everything up front and order all the parts at the same time. Tesla generally has a 2 week turnaround time for shipping parts. However, body shops often would take off one thing, then order it, then when they replace it they find something else and order that etc. There's been quite a few published cases where body shops where complaining about Tesla part order time and it ended up that the body shop needed 8 or 10 parts, but they placed each order individually spread 3 weeks apart each. Technically sure, they were "waiting on Tesla for parts" the whole time, but there's a good and bad way to do things.

I can't say that's what is happening with TFL. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

However, Tesla has started de-certifying some body shops and retrained others. And as of the beginning of this year, Tesla has also started offering light body shop repair work at their Service Centers - those repairs can generally happen the same day. They've also started offering full structural repair services in a few locations. This will still take some time to fix and roll out, but the "multi-month" repair process should now be the exception rather than the rule like it used to be.
 
deonb said:
Just to clarify - this is about body work, not warranty service. For warranty service, Tesla has generally been exemplary - with some vocal exceptions.

The body shop thing however is very real, and has been a fight between the body shops and Tesla for a while now. Body shops complain that they don't get parts from Tesla. Tesla complains that body shops don't investigate everything up front and order all the parts at the same time. Tesla generally has a 2 week turnaround time for shipping parts. However, body shops often would take off one thing, then order it, then when they replace it they find something else and order that etc. There's been quite a few published cases where body shops where complaining about Tesla part order time and it ended up that the body shop needed 8 or 10 parts, but they placed each order individually spread 3 weeks apart each. Technically sure, they were "waiting on Tesla for parts" the whole time, but there's a good and bad way to do things.

I can't say that's what is happening with TFL. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

However, Tesla has started de-certifying some body shops and retrained others. And as of the beginning of this year, Tesla has also started offering light body shop repair work at their Service Centers - those repairs can generally happen the same day. They've also started offering full structural repair services in a few locations. This will still take some time to fix and roll out, but the "multi-month" repair process should now be the exception rather than the rule like it used to be.
Click to expand...

And right on time, a Tesla apologist tells us it's not really a problem.
 
Velocity173 said:
This is the worry I have with buying a Tesla. Everything I’ve read reflects what these guys are going through. Poor customer service.

They have poor customer service because of their lack of support centers and spare parts. Makes me wonder why they’re still selling these at ridiculously high prices when you don’t have the overhead that major car manufacturers have. I can get my Volt fixed in a day or a week for body work...3 months?! That’s crazy. It’s a beautiful car but with no support, I’ll pass.
Click to expand...

That's certainly a worthwhile concern, and I think they're moving so many new cars right now that their service infrastructure is having trouble keeping up.

One thing that really sucks here is that Tesla is forbidden from doing business in many states, including mine, because they do not use dealerships and everything is factory-owned. Sometimes, this is due to outdated laws from 100 years ago that were attempting to protect consumers from buying a car whose manufacturer went under and then having no support for it - A common occurrence in those days, but pretty much unheard of now. But there are also quite a few states where the dealership associations have managed to get NEW laws passed rather than attempt to compete with Tesla on their own merits in a free market, and even in the states with the old laws, the dealership associations are blocking any updates.

Now, Tesla is doing a lot more with mobile service now, which is GREAT... Very convenient and customer friendly! However, I'm sure they, like everyone else, are having trouble hiring qualified people in this market.
 
This guy does good reviews. The trip computer is cool and I was surprised at how many superchargers are out there. Also seems like there are no wait times. A bit surprised at how much they charge though. I expected more savings over a 30 MPG car on a XC like that.

 
Zeldman said:
I noticed last Friday that the local Walmart has 4 recharging ''pumps''. Just how long this remains free will be the question.

Actually saw a Tesla in town the other day. He was going from gas station to gas station. Looking for a charging station.??
Click to expand...

Car tells us where chargers are. No driving around looking for anything. Even tells us how many super chargers are being used/vacant.
 
N884 said:
Car tells us where chargers are. No driving around looking for anything. Even tells us how many super chargers are being used/vacant.
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That is awesome.!! Anyone driving their Tesla through Gallup will be able find a charging station then, and also find it not in use. The one hotel I know of that has a charging station will have a car on it every now and then, but it sits empty most of the time.
 
Velocity173 said:
This guy does good reviews. The trip computer is cool and I was surprised at how many superchargers are out there. Also seems like there are no wait times. A bit surprised at how much they charge though. I expected more savings over a 30 MPG car on a XC like that.
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If all you are going to do is drive long cross-countries, then an electric car is (currently) not for you. But if most of your driving is local and you can "fill up" at home every night, then the occasional long cross country, requiring the use of the more expensive super charger is not a big deal.
 
JOhnH said:
If all you are going to do is drive long cross-countries, then an electric car is (currently) not for you. But if most of your driving is local and you can "fill up" at home every night, then the occasional long cross country, requiring the use of the more expensive super charger is not a big deal.
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And everywhere is a cross country for me. An electric vehicle doesn't meet my needs, yet. I am confident that someday one will.

I would like something with a least a 650 mile range, that can carry up to and maybe a little over 1200 pounds, and cost much less than a new diesel pickup.
 
Zeldman said:
And everywhere is a cross country for me. An electric vehicle doesn't meet my needs, yet. I am confident that someday one will.

I would like something with a least a 650 mile range, that can carry up to and maybe a little over 1200 pounds, and cost much less than a new diesel pickup.
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Do you know of any gas powered vehicle that can do that? Perhaps if you customized one of those high-mileage economy cars with a larger fuel tank you could get the 650 miles, but payload might be a problem. My wife's car gets 30 mpg, but it only has a 15 gallon tank, giving her 450 mile range, on a good day.
My truck gets almost 20 mpg with a 20 gallon tank, so I am limited to 400 miles/tank. Maybe a Range Rover or something might do it, but they are pricey.

edit: a quick duck search turned up this:
Infiniti Q60: 30 miles per gallon, 21.1 gallon capacity, 633 mile range
 
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My F150 has the 36 gallon tank, on the highway at the speed limit, it hits 22mpg or better. That’s damn near 800 miles before dry if you can drive that slow.
 
1RTK1 said:
My F150 has the 36 gallon tank, on the highway at the speed limit, it hits 22mpg or better. That’s damn near 800 miles before dry if you can drive that slow.
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What year truck was that? I believe they had a 35.5 gallon tank back in the mid '00s (~2006 if I recall).
 
My BMW 5 series diesel can go 1000 km which should be 620 miles.
 
Sluggo63 said:
That’s what I thought. Then I saw this on reddit.

https://www.reddit.com/r/TeslaModel3/comments/c983ku/corning_ca_supercharger_line/

I’m seriously considering buying a Model 3 when I get back to the states, but stuff like this makes me wonder.

View attachment 75707
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I think it’s mostly a California problem right now but as more and more of these are sold, it’s gonna migrate to other areas. I like the car too and love to sell the Volt and upgrade but I worry about the lack of infrastructure right now. Also, the XC numbers just aren’t that impressive. I thought those superchargers were either free or charged a nominal fee for their use. Basically it ties a 35-40 MPG vehicle in cost but with a 40 minute wait. He did say you save a lot more by charging at home but that only relates to a daily driver and not XC.

Gonna give it more time and see how Tesla pans out over the next couple of years.
 
Velocity173 said:
Gonna give it more time and see how Tesla pans out over the next couple of years.
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I'm a big Tesla believer and supporter, but that is my plan too.
For some people, a Tesla makes sense today. It's not quite there for me yet, although I could make it work since we are a 2-car household (with 2 people). If we had a Tesla, it would be used solely for local driving and my truck would continue to be our main transport, which is why I have one of those nice, comfortable trucks that the macho cowboys make fun of. I can still haul dirt, mulch, landscaping supplies and tools in it, but it is also a fine, comfortable traveling machine.
 
Sluggo63 said:
That’s what I thought. Then I saw this on reddit.

https://www.reddit.com/r/TeslaModel3/comments/c983ku/corning_ca_supercharger_line/

I’m seriously considering buying a Model 3 when I get back to the states, but stuff like this makes me wonder.

View attachment 75707
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I've never heard of this occurring outside of a few select locations in California. Tesla has opened up several new locations that are near the "bad" ones. This is also why you can see, in your car, how many stalls are taken at a particular charger, so that if they're full, you can pick a different one.

I do expect that there will be some other annoyances in the future as they get more popular. For example, Thanksgiving/Christmas travel days along heavily traveled corridors like I-80 between Chicago and the 80/90 split near Cleveland. But, Tesla is actively collecting data on Supercharger usage so I expect that they'll be pretty proactive about getting more stalls in places so this doesn't happen.
 
Diesel Grand Cherokee.
25 gal tank. 30mpg.
750 mile range.
 
JOhnH said:
Do you know of any gas powered vehicle that can do that? Perhaps if you customized one of those high-mileage economy cars with a larger fuel tank you could get the 650 miles, but payload might be a problem. My wife's car gets 30 mpg, but it only has a 15 gallon tank, giving her 450 mile range, on a good day.
My truck gets almost 20 mpg with a 20 gallon tank, so I am limited to 400 miles/tank. Maybe a Range Rover or something might do it, but they are pricey.

edit: a quick duck search turned up this:
Infiniti Q60: 30 miles per gallon, 21.1 gallon capacity, 633 mile range
Click to expand...

I don't have a gas powered one but my diesel powered pickup can go a lot further than my bladder. Fortunately I can pull my bathroom behind me if I really need it. But I still need to stop in Payson on the way back for fuel. The Drivers Information Center tells me I could make it all the way round trip with almost a mile to spare but I really don't want to test that.

And I messed up on the distance, it is a 582.4 mile round trip from where I need to go in Phoenix and home. I just hate having to stay in Phoenix long enough to fill up the tank...:lol::lol:

My '72 Chevy gas pickup could go a little over 600 miles on one tank at highway speeds, but I did do a little work on the engine, and added an overdrive.

And the distance per tank is not non-stop. I am getting older and have to stop for certain reasons.... which I can do on the side of the road. Stopping for fuel is a dedicated stop that usually takes time, and you know what they say about time.
 
@Zeldman

Ok, with a car/truck you can stop and get out and use the bathroom in back. However, when flying, not many options in the light GA space.
So, why do so many pilots want a plane that can fly hours beyond his/her bladder capability? For example, one possible partner wanted a plane, with options that could fly non-stop for 7+ hours (DA-42 with optional tanks). The longest flight he had done in the last 1,000 hours was two hours; and usually 1.5 hours max.

What am I missing...

Tim
 
tspear said:
@Zeldman

Ok, with a car/truck you can stop and get out and use the bathroom in back. However, when flying, not many options in the light GA space.
So, why do so many pilots want a plane that can fly hours beyond his/her bladder capability? For example, one possible partner wanted a plane, with options that could fly non-stop for 7+ hours (DA-42 with optional tanks). The longest flight he had done in the last 1,000 hours was two hours; and usually 1.5 hours max.

What am I missing...

Tim
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Who was paying for the fuel? I like having longer legs on my plane so I don't have to stop and buy fuel at places where the fuel is a couple of dollars more per gallon. I might make three stops on a trip and only buy fuel at the one with the least expensive fuel.
 
Data points:

- Today marks 68 days of ownership. That's 68 days without the bother of gassing up.

- In that time I've driven 2,803 miles, an average of 41 miles per day. There have been 3 days without driving, so it was really 43 miles per day.

- Longest trip was 200 miles, when I drove it back from the Tesla Store in San Antonio. Longest non-delivery day was 124 miles.

- With a 240 mile range, range anxiety has not been an issue.

- I've never used a Supercharger since the pickup day, when I tried one just for fun. In practice, I simply plug in every night, just like my cellphone.

- I use autopilot on every drive. It is wonderful.

- My Lincoln MKS or F-150 would have used ~122 gallons of gas. With gas in Texas so cheap, that's only a savings of $293. In California it would have saved ~$500.

- Time saved by not stopping to buy gas is probably about 150 minutes (10 stops x 15 minutes, by the time you factor everything in). So, I got an extra 2 hours of usable life in the last 68 days. lol

- Sadly, here in South Texas I've yet to see another Tesla. This car is more rare than Lamborghinis in Texas! (Outside of major metro areas.)

So far, I'm loving this car. It's practical and fun as hell to drive!





Sent from my SM-T380 using Tapatalk
 
EppyGA said:
For everyone's pleasure.....
View attachment 75704
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Memes are funny and all, but they rarely speak the truth. That is not a diesel generator, but rather a battery pack. It is a battery charging another battery. The van is gas powered... for now. In the near future, OAMTC, the Austrian company providing the service expects to switch to electric vans when they are available, which in Europe will be very soon, probably next year. These really aren't necessary now, they just exist for the type of people that can't read gas gauges and call AAA.

The only thing stupid is people that can't see the future when it's right there in front of them and stand firmly in the past.
 
JOhnH said:
I'm a big Tesla believer and supporter, but that is my plan too.
For some people, a Tesla makes sense today. It's not quite there for me yet, although I could make it work since we are a 2-car household (with 2 people). If we had a Tesla, it would be used solely for local driving and my truck would continue to be our main transport, which is why I have one of those nice, comfortable trucks that the macho cowboys make fun of. I can still haul dirt, mulch, landscaping supplies and tools in it, but it is also a fine, comfortable traveling machine.
Click to expand...

I dare you- buy the Tesla now and then get back to us in a few months and see which vehicle is your main transport. I bet you that truck sits. So much so, that you'll force yourself to drive it just to keep exercised. If both vehicles have to be used daily, you will argue over who has to drive the truck. This is the exact experience most new EV drivers have, myself included.

Don't wait. You won't regret it.
 
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